Golf ball manufacturers routinely experiment with different materials in an effort to impart specific properties and features to the balls and/or individual components/layers within the ball. For example, the resiliency and rebounding performance of the golf ball is based primarily on the core of the ball. Thus, the core is commonly made of a rubber material such as natural and synthetic rubbers, styrene butadiene, polybutadiene, poly(cis-isoprene), poly(trans-isoprene), or highly neutralized acid copolymers. However, the durability required for repetitive play is often based on the cover of the ball. Because of their toughness and durability, the cover is commonly made of ionomer resins, polyamides, polyesters, polyurethanes, or polyureas.
While these materials are commonly used in golf balls, polybutadiene rubber core compositions and ionomeric core/cover compositions have room for improvement in terms of performance and durability. For instance, polybutadiene rubbers of high molecular weight have better resilience than polybutadiene rubbers of low molecular weight. However, as the molecular weight of the polybutadiene rubber increases, the milling and processing properties of the polybutadiene rubber deteriorate. Similarly, while ionomer resins are more durable than other types of golf ball layer materials, the same properties that result in durability also provide a hard “feel” and generally result in a lower spin rate and, thus, lower control, due to the hardness of the material.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the golf ball manufacturing art to provide compositions with improved properties and processability that are useful in golf ball components. Advantageously, the blends of the present invention provide golf ball compositions having superior physical properties, as well as better processability, mold release, and moisture insensitivity characteristics.